A datacenter is a facility used to house a collection of computer servers and associated components, typically network hardware. The collection of computer servers is often called a “server cluster” or “server farm,” and is designed to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of a single machine. The networking hardware typically includes network switches and/or routers which enable communication between the different parts of the server farm and the users of the server farm. Datacenters are commonly used for cluster computing, web services, remote data storage, web hosting, and other web services. Datacenters are increasingly being used by enterprises instead of, or in addition to, mainframe computers. As the demand for datacenters continues to increase, a need exists to limit the cost of operating a datacenter and/or to maintain availability of datacenter computing resources.
In various scenarios, datacenter components may undergo transfer events, in which power is switched from one power source to another power source. Such switching may occur, for example, between an on-site emergency generator and a utility grid, such as in response to a loss of power in the grid, or following restoration of grid power after an outage. Switching may also be performed to balance loads among different areas of a datacenter, such as during the introduction of new components to expand capacity or to isolate components, such as for maintenance. Specific sequences of actuating circuit breakers are often utilized to facilitate transfer events. Such sequences can be prone to human error, such as if a technician misunderstands the sequence, loses his or her place in the sequence, and/or otherwise unintentionally actuates circuit breakers out of order. Such errors can result in unacceptable losses in availability of datacenter computing resources and/or cause costly damage to datacenter components.